James show his class as Sharks skin the Cats

By MIKE GREENAWAY

Sharks 30 Cats 12

DURBAN - It is debatable which South African coach wore the biggest smile after the Sharks 30-12 Super 12 semifinal win over the Cats - Rudolf Straeuli or Harry Viljoen.

Straeuli will be smiling all the way to Canberra after his team's emphatic win against their arch-rivals from Johannesburg, but Viljoen's joy might be of a longer-lasting nature.

And that is because he has real reason to believe that South Africa at last has a fitting heir to the Springbok first-five throne vacated two years ago by the great Henry Honiball, a throne that has had a series of uneasy and unworthy occupants since the 1999 World Cup.

Butch James was announced in the Springbok squad last week by Viljoen in hope more than anything else, but after the manner in which the Sharks first five-eighths declawed the Cats, Viljoen has every reason to believe he now has a quality pivot to carry South Africa's Tri-Nations hopes.

Besides tackling with his usual venom and passing with poise and accuracy, James produced moments of magic on the half-hour mark in both halves to create tries that
arrested the momentum of the hard-pressing Cats.

Fittingly, it was former Bok coach Nick Mallett - the man who suffered the most when Honiball retired - who predicted in mid-week that James would prove the difference between the teams, and so it was.

The teams were locked at 3-3 after a tense opening quarter characterised by hard driving and tentative kicking.

Louis Koen kicked his second penalty after 25 minutes to give his team the lead for the first and only time.

The Sharks struck back immediately and in emphatic fashion.

For the first time they had patiently kept the ball in hand instead of relinquishing possession with probing kicks, and it paid the handsomest of dividends when James worked the blind side in the Cats 22 to put Charl van Rensburg in for a well-worked try.

James somehow contrived to miss the easy conversion attempt, but they were back in front at 8-6.

James was prominent in that try, but he was simply brilliant in the try that he created a few minutes later.

On the halfway line, he chipped over the Cats backline, neatly gathered his own kick and passed to Deon Kayser who set Justin Swart up for a race to the corner.

The flying wing was bravely caught by Thinus Delport but Swart just had enough time to feed a pass inside to Trevor Halstead who had done well to get up in support.

James converted from the corner to give the home team a handy 15-6 lead as the halftime whistle neared.

The Sharks piled on the pressure in the final minutes before the break and sealed the game with a fine try on the halftime hooter.

Again James was the polished architect. He broke clean through on the Cats 22, drew fullback Delport and then unleashed Stefan Terblanche for a clear run to the line.

James missed the conversion but the 20-6 lead would prove unassailable.

The first half an hour of the second half belonged exclusively to the Cats as they threw everything into getting back into the game.

Typically stoic Sharks defence somehow kept them out and it was a sign of respect for the Sharks' defence when the Cats eventually elected to kick a penalty from the halfway line, which narrowed the score to 20-9.

Koen (unsuccessfully) attempted two more from the same distance as time began to run out for the Cats, but with ten minutes to go he was successful in front of the Sharks' poles to give his team real hope at 20-12.

But James had other ideas. He broke the siege spectacularly when he grubbered through the Cats back line during a rare Sharks foray into the Cats half, gathered the ball, and fed to Halstead.

The ball exchanged hands a few more times before Charl van Rensburg finished off in the corner for his second try.

It was heart-breaking stuff for the Cats.

They had done all the attacking for most of the second half but had only two penalties to show for their efforts.

They understandably began to flag and the delighted Sharks ran in a late try for good measure, with Warren Britz capping a fine season with a deserved score.

Sharks 30 (C. van Rensburg 2, T. Halstead, S. Terblanche, W. Britz tries; B. James con, pen)

Cats 12 (L. Koen 4 pen)

Halftime: 20-6.

- INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS (SOUTH AFRICA)